Day 6: on to manuel antonio national par

We departed the very special Rafiki safari lodge this morning and headed for the ocean. Before leaving the area, we stopped at the home of one of the bartenders from Rafiki to learn about his small vanilla bean farm. He showed us the plants that are now about 3 years old and explained how four family members produce the vanilla, including hand pollinating flowers. He works with the vanilla plants every morning for about 5 hours before turning to his bartending gig. We then visited the small nearby town of El Silencia. While we were learning about its history, a palm tree worker who happened to be walking by gave us a demonstration of cutting the tops off palm trees to make palm oil. He is 60 years old and makes about $25 for a day’s work, and plans to retire in 5 years. We went to a restaurant set in an airplane tied to the Iran-contra affair (movie American Made), where we also saw a mother sloth resting in a nearby tree, with her baby tucked at her belly.
On to our hotel next to the Manuel Antonio National Park. This area is pretty built up and busy, especially in comparison the Rafiki Lodge. A local expert on squirrel monkeys talked to us about the efforts being made to protect these relatively small (12”) monkeys. We saw monkeys jumping in the trees right next to the hotel.
The weather these last few days has been hot and very humid.
The food has been pretty good, albeit not terribly exciting. Lots of fresh fruit (watermelon, pineapple and papaya), chicken, pork, fish, and rice/beans. The water is safe to drink from the tap.Read more